Distinguished co-facilitators, His Excellency Mr. Neville Gertze, Permanent Representative of Namibia
Her Excellency Ms. Antje Leendertse, Permanent Representative of Germany,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G-77 and China.

First, let me reiterate the appreciation of our Group for your efforts in presenting us a proposal on the scope and elements of the Summit of the Future. G77 and China is working tirelessly, committed and constructively in order to build a position of the Group, for participating in the intergovernmental preparatory process of the Summit of the Future, something that has not been finished yet.

The Group appreciates that the cofacilitators accepted our request to extend the deadline for submitting concrete proposals on scope and elements for the Summit of the Future for the next 15 July, considering the enormous amount of simultaneous processes and meetings which are taking place this year. G77 and China reiterates its deep concern about the overwhelming number of meetings that are convened for different process, which jeopardize the effective participation of the Group in all of them.

Although we welcome this opportunity to meet today under your auspices, the Group is not ready yet to provide a comprehensive contribution on the substance of the proposal. We believe it is essential to thoroughly read and engage in consultations on the entire text before offering our input.

In this regard, we would like to stress that the Group’s lack of response in the paragraph-by-paragraph exercise, if initiated today, should not be interpreted as an acceptance of the proposals concerning different issues or the proposals presented by other delegations.

That’s why today we would be only sharing very general comments at this stage, taking into account the complexity of the issues included in the text and the need for appropriate time to be able to receive instructions from our capitals and coordinate our positions as a Group, also by listening to the positions of other negotiating groups and delegations.

A preliminary comment of the Group is that, as developing countries, we would like to see reflected the main priorities related to sustainable development to accelerate the full achievement of the 2030 Agenda, including the eradication of poverty, as well as financing for development and the reform of the international financial architecture, among other related matters.

The Group hopes that this resolution or draft decision, as decided by Member States, could be adopted as a result of the Ministerial meeting on 21 September.

Thank you very much.